Eben William Robertson (17 September 1815 – 3 June 1874) was a British historian.
Life
editRobertson was born near the Leicestershire- Derbyshire border at Netherseale,[1] into a wealthy landowning family. He was a distant relative of 18th century Scots historian and academic William Robertson. He attended Worcester College, Oxford, and received legal training at Lincoln's Inn.[2]
His father died in 1852 and Robertson succeeded to the family's estates. As a legally trained landowner and gentleman, he was active in local administration, first as a justice of the peace. In 1862, he was appointed Deputy Lord Lieutenant[3] of Leicestershire, and in 1870, he became High Sheriff of Derbyshire.[4] Robertson was married to Isabella Colgrave in 1838. They had one son and two daughters.
He is best remembered as a historian of medieval Scotland. His 1862 work Scotland under her early Kings (2 volumes) was well regarded. He published a collection of essays, Historical Essays in connexion with the Land, the Church, etc. in 1874.
In 1874 Robertson was injured attempting, unsuccessfully, to save his two nieces from a fire. Soon after he caught cold and died after a painful illness.
References
edit- ^ National Galleries of Scotland
- ^ Lee, Sidney, ed. (1896). . Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 48. London: Smith, Elder & Co. p. 404.
- ^ "No. 22593". The London Gazette. 28 January 1862. p. 451.
- ^ "No. 23584". The London Gazette. 7 February 1870. p. 721.
External links
edit- Robertson, Eben William (1862), Scotland Under Her Early Kings (to 1300), vol. I, Edinburgh: Edmonston and Douglas
- Robertson, Eben William (1862), Scotland Under Her Early Kings (1300–1603), vol. II, Edinburgh: Edmonston and Douglas
- Robertson, Eben William (1871), Historical Essays in Connexion with the Land, the Church &c, Edinburgh: Edmonston and Douglas (published 1872)